1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample analysis system, a reagent preparation device and a sample treating device, and more particularly, it relates to a sample analysis system, a reagent preparation device and a sample treating device each preparing a reagent by diluting a high-concentration reagent with a dilution liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
A reagent preparation device preparing a reagent by diluting a high-concentration reagent with a dilution liquid is known in general. Such a reagent preparation device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-33538, for example.
The aforementioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-33538 discloses a reagent preparation device comprising a preparation tank for storing a high-concentration reagent and pure water (dilution liquid), a reagent constant amount tank supplying a prescribed amount of the high-concentration reagent to the preparation tank, a pure water constant amount tank quantifying and supplying pure water to the preparation tank, a diaphragm pump capable of replenishing pure water to the preparation tank little by little in response to the frequency of operations, a sensor (detection unit) detecting electrical conductance of the reagent diluted in the preparation tank, and a control unit controlling an operation of the diaphragm pump. In this reagent preparation device, the high-concentration reagent is not prepared at a desired concentration in one step, but the high-concentration reagent is first prepared at a relatively high concentration in the preparation tank. Then, in the reagent preparation device, a small amount of pure water is added into the preparation tank by the diaphragm pump while monitoring the electrical conductance of the reagent in the preparation tank by utilizing that the electrical conductance of the reagent and the concentration of the reagent are correlated. Thus, the reagent in the preparation tank approaches a desired concentration. In this reagent preparation device, the frequency of operations of the diaphragm pump in adding the small amount of pure water is calculated with a value of the electrical conductance of the reagent in the preparation tank varying with a single operation of the diaphragm pump (hereinafter referred to as a “value of a variable of electrical conductance”).
However, the aforementioned value of the variable of the electrical conductance employed in the reagent preparation device of the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-33538 is previously obtained by an experiment. Therefore, in a case where a high-concentration reagent is diluted with a dilution liquid different in property from the dilution liquid employed in the experiment, when the frequency of operations of the diaphragm pump is calculated with the aforementioned value of the variable of the electrical conductance, the high-concentration reagent may not be able to be diluted at the desired concentration.